Vince Cable launches Impact Acceleration Accounts at UCL spinout

15 November 2012

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
Vince Cable has today announced the launch of Impact Acceleration
Accounts (IAAs), of which UCL is the second largest recipient, at a
value of nearly £4.5 million.

The grant, part of a total of £60m being announced by the
Business Secretary at Space Syntax - a UCL spinout - is one of 31 awarded to universities across
the UK. They are being distributed through the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The Accounts have been established make it easier for
university research to be applied in the real world, benefiting society
at large and helping to also boost the economy. The funding will be used
to enable businesses and other research users engage with research
projects at an earlier stage than currently, to support partnerships
with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger companies, and
also enable more research staff to be seconded to businesses.

“The research we support is recognised as outstanding on
the international stage,” said the Chief Executive of the EPSRC Dave
Delpy. “These Accounts aim to make a step change in the impact that has
on society.”

At UCL funds will go towards supporting projects which will enable greater collaboration between researchers and industry and encourage a culture of entrepreneurship.

Enabling closer working with business in general, and specifically enabling the commercialisation of research emanating from our staff, is a key priority for UCL

Professor Stephen Caddick

The grant will also go towards moves by UCL to better
support East London digital enterprise hub Tech City, through developing
UCL DECIDE. The service aims to enable innovative digital startups to
test their new products and services, gain customer feedback and ensure
its technical feasibility, by offering access to UCL as the world’s
largest “living-lab” for digital and media content

Enabling greater research impact by communicating with
policy makers is also the objective of several projects being supported
by the grant to UCL, including transport studies and in clarifying the
practical implications of research into green energy and decarbonisation
funded by UK research councils.

“Enabling closer working with business in general, and
specifically enabling the commercialisation of research emanating from
our staff, is a key priority for UCL,” said Professor Stephen Caddick,
Vice-Provost for Enterprise.

“We have had strong successes in this area, especially in
the sphere of life and medical sciences. These additional funds will
enable us to broaden the range of enterprise activity we support, in
particular in tech, data and media. Our support for Tech City, for
example, will provide a link between start-ups and world class research,
which is essential for any modern cluster.

“We have a long standing commitment to ensuring that UCL's
research is used to shape policy, and the IAA fund we’ve received will
further strengthen that aspect of our enterprise activities,” he added.

More information about dissemination of funds and applying for grants can be found here.